Deconstruction - Kerrang! Magazine.

Background information
Kerrang! First editor was Geoff Barton,  first published on the 7^th June 1981. AC/DC were on the front cover. Kerrang! has had a few publishers starting off with, United Newspaprs who sold it EMAP (in 1991) then it got sold to Bauer Media Group (in 2008) who are now the current owner of Kerrang! magazine.
The current editor is Nichola Browne who has been then editor since 2008.
Kerrang! target audience is the alternative youth. This means people who are into brit mental, punk, rock, pop punk and emo instead of mainstream music. Between 2000-2003 there was a big sales drop what meant the huge genre at the time ‘nu mental’ had died down.  This is when Kerrang! started to feature more articles about new bands that teenagers where listening to and, Kerrang! is still doing that now on a weekly basis.
As Kerrang! has became more know it has done a-lot of cross-media convergence. It has its own radio station, merchandise, website, weekly products, a yearly awards night and a yearly Kerrang! tour which they get sponsored (synergy in business).

Front Cover.
The colour scheme is mainly white, black, and yellow. They will most likely keep the same colour scheme all the way though the magazine and on the content page.  You have the words ‘BRING ME THE HORIZON’ in yellow writing as well you have the words ‘win’ ‘access all areas’ ‘exclusive’ and ‘plus’ I think it is yellow to grab your attention as not many words on the front cover are yellow, its only one word, so this is to make you more aware of certain things on the page. As well they have put the title of the magazine in the background behind the band; this could connate that the band is more important than the magazine.
The main subject of the magazine is the band. You know this as they are the front cover, and the title of the band is eye-catching and, the picture of the band is a medium shot, so you can see most of the band - this is used to anchor people in. As well having the picture of the band, fans will be able to recognise the band.
This is a very busy front cover, as it has a lot telling you what articles will be featuring inside the magazine. Also to anchor people into buying the magazine they have put the words ‘win’ and ‘plus’.
At the top of the magazine it says ‘WIN’ this is good advertisement for Kerrang! as this will create a way of making money for the magazine at the same time anchoring new people to buy the magazine as they might want to enter this competition.
At the bottom of the magazine it gives an overview of what else is going to be in the magazine.
Also on the front cover there is a small picture of another story in the magazine, the picture is not covering the main band faces. Also there are subtitles which show what are including in the magazine and will give the every week buyers an insight what’s going to be in the magazine.

 

Content Page.
On this page the colour scheme has carried on; black, white and yellow. The title of this page, the issues and date it was released is following the same font as the front cover.  The content gives one main picture (medium shot) and two pictures next to it, showing some of the double page spread they have done.  Also they have put on the right of the picture what page it is on, so the reader can go straight to what they want.
The bottom half of the page tells us what is in the magazine this week. Below there are the page number and what is on that page. The magazine all contains bands, competitions and the ‘regulars’. The main outlines of the magazine are;

Feedback
News
Swag (competitions and prizes)
Live Reviews
Features
Album Reviews
Gig guide
K quiz.

Also on the page there is a picture of the editor and a short paragraph or two about the staff at Kerrang! magazine and about upcoming events related to Kerrang! magazine. Also at the bottom of the magazine is offers to get a membership to the magazine which could be delivered to your house, which could be beneficial to the reader, also saying its ‘£6*’ for an every week reader could be cheaper for them, making this part of the magazine appeal to them.

 

Double page spread. 

 The first thing you see is ‘were being the best mcr we can be!’ which is similar font to the front cover to make it relate all the way throughout the magazine. The writing is at a canted angle to connate that it’s been put on there as a quote. The whole double page spread has been used as a white, red and black colour scheme. 

At the top in the corner is a small note saying they can go on the website for more information and stories about mcr and other artists. 

The main picture on the page takes roughly one page, they have manipulate image, and it is a shot of one of the band members singing, the image colour has been change to give the image more depth. It also gives the reader an idea on who they will be reading about, or if they are fan they can see the band and want to read. 

There are three other pictures added to the double page spread. They are added sometimes because one image isn’t strong, so adding more images gives the reader a better idea on what they are reading about. These images have also been edited like the main picture on the double page spread to show that they a linked together. 

In the middle of the page is the main article and it is written in white to make it easier to read and to make it stand out more against the black background. On this double page spread there is not much writing compared to other double page spreads but the magazine must of felt that the picture meant more than the words. 

On the right hand side is a list of new songs that this band has been working on.  It’s done on a white background and black writing this is to make it stand out more, as it might look obsolete next to the picture and the article.